The Hotel
by BCBoo
Summary: It's been three years since we last saw the Jellicle's and only now is it time for Mungojerrie to face his destiny. A work in progress. 25.02.10: Chapter 5 is up
1. Revelation

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had spent a happy morning at their human home getting up to their usual mischief. Things were broken, food spoiled and a good time had by all, except the human mother who now had to clean up. Today they had used the old kid trick to get away with the fun. They had got the human child, who was about 4 years old, hyper by playing with him, and he had run around the house after them. By the end of it the mother didn't know who had caused the most damage. Exasperated, she shooed the cats out of the house and sent the child to his room. Laughing and re-enacting various moments, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer headed to the local park. The park was a lovely little area. There were some human playthings but it was mostly a field with a medium sized pond at one end. The two Jellicle's loved coming here when the weather was nice. Not only was it relaxing, it was also the place they had first declared their mating pledge. Of course it required a Jellicle leader to make the mating official, but to them that beautiful night was the big one.

They reached the pond and were just about to sit down together when all hell broke loose. Three large Jellicle's leaped out of a bush at them. The three Jellicle's were of various colours. One was grey with a few black markings. He had one eye and was slightly clumsy, but he made up for this with brute strength. Another was fairly clean and pure white, he was agile and the first to catch out Mungojerrie. Jerrie ducked away from the first attack, which had come from the grey at face height, but as he duck the white rammed into Jerrie, knocking him down. Jerrie quickly slashed his claws on the white back and pushed his aside, rolling to his feet. The grey then dug his claws into Jerrie's right shoulder and pulled down. Jerrie yowled in pain before pushing the grey away with his claws.

The third Jellicle focused on Rumpleteazer and was all black, he was clearly a weaker fighter, but also didn't mind playing dirty. His main method was to grab his opponent and try and force them to the ground. Rumpleteazer may have been light enough for this to work but she was also frisky enough to only stay down for a second. Unlike her mate she only suffered bruises.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had no idea why they were being attacked, but they had a feeling Macavity was involved. No sooner had the thought entered their minds, Macavity showed up. He slinked between the fighters, as if they weren't even there. He casually stepped to one side, missing the grey Jellicle as Mungojerrie threw him to the ground, and took a step the other way to avoid the final swing of Rumpleteazer's round kick against the black Jellicle. The kick had connected wonderfully with the tom's crotch, he doubled over in pain as Macavity used Rumpleteazer's brief moment of unsteadiness to grab her. She screamed her mates name and he stopped. The white tom, which had been on Mungojerrie's back was thrown off but managed to land on his feet. A split second later Mungojerrie slammed his elbow into the white toms stomach without even looking and the white too doubled over in pain.

Macavity had one of his long arms tightly around Rumpleteazer's torso, pinning her arms to her side. He had lifted her off the ground slightly, meaning she had no momentum to back kick him with. His other arm was resting across her front with his paws fully extended at her throat. He had seen plenty of human movies and knew the position was cliqued, but he did love to see the look in others eyes as he threatened they're dear ones. Rumpleteazer was squirming but had no hope of escaping Macavity's vice like grip. Her breathing was heavy, more from fear than exertion. Her face showed her fear, Rumpleteazer was an open book when it came to her emotions, and nothing was hidden. Mungojerrie could also see the repulsion on her face, Macavity was breathing on the side of her face and her neck, his breath hot with the thrill of the battle. Mungojerrie stood looking at his mate. His emotions were hidden from his face but inside he ached with worry, with the fear of losing the love of his life, and with anger for himself for letting her get into this position. His body stood strong but his breathing was heavy, matching his mates. There was some blood on his fur, most of it coming from the deep scratch on his shoulder, but there were various smaller scratches on his arms and torso. He was relieved to see Rumpleteazer free of wounds, a dangerous voice at the back of his mind said 'for now…'

"Mungojerrie dear boy. If I didn't know any better I'd say you've lost your touch. There was a time when those toms would have been kittens play to you. I'm disappointed to see you hurt. I sent the weaker fighter after Rumpleteazer; perhaps I should have sent him after you?" A dangerous grin was on Macavity's face.

"Wot do ya want Macavity?" His eyes didn't leave Rumpleteazer.

"I'm here to offer you your rightful place in my little family. Don't reply right away, you'll want time to think this over I'm sure. For now I'll take this beautiful creature with me, as reassurance you will actually think about my offer. And don't even think about getting your little Jellicle friends together to stage a rescue, if I even sense one I will kill her instantly. When you return to me then your mate can go free." And without another word Macavity was gone taking Rumpleteazer with him. There was no fancy display, as he normally used, he just disappeared.

Mungojerrie started forwards to where they had been before stopping. He vaguely noticed that the three attackers were gone as well, but his mind was focused Rumpleteazer. He had to save her, but he knew Macavity, if he said he would kill her then her would. That meant a rescue was defiantly out. Mungojerrie couldn't go running in alone, he'd be killed instantly. Perhaps Misto could… maybe? He did it a year and a half ago with Old Deuteronomy. But if he asked for everyone's help they would want to know what was going on, he couldn't tell them the truth. Him and Teazer had hidden it for years. They'd throw them out if they knew. Mungojerrie stood for almost an hour trying to think. There was no answer, Macavity had got him again. Reluctantly Mungojerrie headed towards the Junkyard. If nothing else he needed to get Jellylorum and Jennyanydots to look at his wounds, they were starting to sting and he couldn't save his Teazer if he was in pain.

----x----

Mungojerrie entered the yard slowly. He hoped there wouldn't be many Jellicle's around, but, to his dismay they were everywhere.Most were in groups on the main floor. They were in their normal groups relaxing, enjoying the present weather of the day. Some were sitting on junk piles, but they were all in the main area. It was as if their Jellicle senses had told them to be there.

Jerrie hadn't seen that many all at once since the last Jellicle Ball when Old Deuteronomy had been given the choice. Munkustrap had been granted leadership of the tribe, as everyone had expected. He was Old Deuteronomy's oldest child and had looked after the tribe for as long as anyone could remember. When Munkustrap took over Demeter, his mate couldn't have been more proud. Now they had a kitten together, a beautiful little queen that had her father exact patterns but in her mother's colours.

Munkustrap was the first to notice Mungojerrie lurking in the shadows.

"Rumpus! Jerrie, what happened to you?" He jumped up from in front of the car and speed over to the tiger tom. Demeter followed carrying their kitten. Munkustrap looked around but couldn't see Rumpleteazer, which shocked him because the two were rarely ever seen apart.

"Where's Rumpleteazer Jerrie?" Mungojerrie bowed his head in shame, and to hide the tears. He opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted.

"She's right here. And don't worry; I didn't hurt her at all." Macavity had appeared on the tyre still holding Rumpleteazer. This time he had one claw firmly dug into her arm, but he still kept a claw at her neck. Everyone turned to face him. Hisses' broke out among the tribe and everyone stood. Munkustrap made his way in front of everyone and prepared to fight should the situation require it. Before he knew what was happening Mungojerrie pushed in front of the silver tabby, ignoring the pain from his shoulder.

"She's got nuffin' er do wif this Macavity." Mungojerrie all but yelled. He looked directly into Macavity's eyes, trying to look stronger than he felt.

"Doesn't she? I believe she's the reason you left our family Mungojerrie." Everyone started to look uneasy. They knew Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had once worked for Macavity, but they hadn't known any details. Mungojerrie said nothing.

"Does your new family know about your old one my boy?" Fear entered Mungojerrie's eyes and his expression faltered. "No? Families should know the truth about each other dear nephew." Gasps filled the mouths of many Jellicle's. Mungojerrie's ears flattened in shame. "You didn't even tell them that. My my, how much they have to learn."

Macavity now addressed the whole tribe, keeping his claws firmly at Rumpleteazer's throat to ensure no-one would try anything.

"Yes Mungojerrie is my nephew. I practically raised him. I'm rather hurt to learn he never mentioned that. I suppose he also failed to mention that he was my number one prodigy. He was quite a nasty Jellicle before I stupidly gave him this queen to use as a decoy." Macavity would occasionally provide his workers with a Jellicle he no longer cared for to take the fall should anything go wrong on a mission. More often than not this meant the decoy would be killed as the worker ran.

"Mungojerrie was a thief, as you know. He WAS also an excellent fighter." Macavity briefly glared his disappointment at the tom before returning to the rest of the tribe. "And quite a skilled killer." If Mungojerrie could disappear he would of. He could feel the shock of his fellow Jellicle's drilling into his back, and the shame that followed.

"In fact I believe he even killed a couple of your nearest and dearest." Mungojerrie looked as surprised as everyone else. "Yes, I believe, Cassandra, your brother was killed by my nephew, and Alonzo, your dear mother." Horrible memories flooded in front of Mungojerrie's eyes. A white queen with black markings and a tom who was almost the twin of Cassandra now that he thought about it. Both killed because they failed to keep up their ends of deal with Macavity. Mungojerrie was sent to kill them, he wasn't given any details about the Jellicle's, he never was. The only blessing was that Mungojerrie didn't thrive in painful killings as his uncle did. At least they had died fast.

Alonzo and Cassandra almost leaped on Mungojerrie, claws fully extended and ready to get revenge, but they were held back by the Rum Tum Tugger and Bombalurina.

"Well well. Now you know. Mungojerrie, my nephew, the thief, the bully and the murderer. If only I had time to tell you more stories, but alas my patience is wearing thin. Mungojerrie will you accept your fate and rejoin me?"

'The fool' Macavity thought. 'This is such a delightful plan. Shame Mungojerrie out of the Junkyard, he'll have no choice but to join me. Kidnapping Rumpleteazer was just for fun.' Macavity had just taken her to his lair and waited until Mungojerrie went to the yard to carry out the final part of his plan. Although he had to admit, Mungojerrie had taken so long getting there that Macavity almost dragged him there.

Mungojerrie stared at his mate again; she hadn't moved her eyes from him. He could see tears building up in her eyes. Not tears of fear but tears for her mate's pain.

Quietly Mungojerrie let out his answer."I won't." His voice cracked but he didn't care.

"Fine. You'll return to me one day Mungojerrie. Where else can you go?" With his characteristic laughter Macavity pushed Rumpleteazer towards her mate and vanished, this time putting on much more of a show. What appeared to be ground lightning cracked where he had been standing as he disappeared.

Rumpleteazer ran toward him and threw her arms around Mungojerrie. She sobbed loudly into his uninjured shoulder. He held her tight; eyes screwed shut, tears falling silently. He knew he would have to turn around and face the tribe, but for now he was just relieved to be holding his mate again.

The tribe were still. Even Alonzo and Cassandra had stopped, but they were still held in place just encase. Everyone either looked at Mungojerrie or Munkustrap, seeing who would make the first move. Munkustrap was first; he stood out of his defensive stance and took a step towards Jerrie.

"Mungojerrie…" Mungojerrie slowly turned, still clinging onto Rumpleteazer.

"Aw of its true, every wor'" His voice was still quiet. His eyes found Teazer's before his head jerked up and he looked straight as Munkustrap, his voice filled with a new found confidence. "But it's got nuffin' ter do wif Teazer, punish me but leef 'er out of it"

Munkustrap sighed before taking a scan of the tribe. Everyone looked to him. This was his first major task as leader and he knew what he had to do. Tantomile and Coricopat nodded at him to agree as his eyes met theirs. They had done a scan of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer's minds to get the truth.

"If we may, we know more of the story." Tantomile started as she and her mate stepped forwards in perfect sync.

"Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer, we apologise for invading your minds but the story must be told and you are in no state to do it." Coricopat continued.

"Mungojerrie was indeed raised by Macavity. He lost his father, Macavity's brother at a young age and is mother took Mungojerrie and his sister to Macavity as she didn't know what to do without her mate. Macavity kept Mungojerrie away from his mother as much as possible and raised him as his heir." He paused and his mate continued.

"Mungojerrie did indeed do terrible things while there. But he didn't know any other way of life, that was until Rumpleteazer was given to him. She told him of a life outside of Macavity's lair. A life with humans and other Jellicle's, a life she had lead before she was taken by Macavity. They fell in love and vowed to leave. When the time came they managed to escape quite easily, because of Mungojerrie's status in the lair, no-one questioned his free movement in and around the lair. They came across our tribe and were granted sanctuary by Old Deuteronomy. To try and live a normal life they lied about their involvement with Macavity to us all. But, if we may put forward a personal opinion, my mate and I don't hold that lie against them. Mungojerrie had no idea he killed Idris and Flora." Cassandra and Alonzo hissed at the mention of their fallen family members' names. Tantomile continued.

"Macavity never gave out details, he just told Mungojerrie who to take care of." Everyone listened carefully. It was not the first time Tantomile and Coricopat had told someone life story while the Jellicle was standing next to them. But this was one of the vaguer ones. Many presumed the vagueness was to save them from the no doubt gory details.

Munkustrap knew it was his time to make a judgement. He looked towards his mate and kitten. Demeter was holding their daughter protectively against her shoulder, the kittens wide eyes stared at her father. Munkustrap sighed and turned to Mungojerrie.

"I never thought I'd be saying this to you Jerrie, but as leader of this tribe I have to ask you to leave. You are exiled from the moment you leave this yard. Your years of being a solid and dependable member of this tribe keep me from putting a death sentence on your head. But I cannot let you continue to be a member having learned this truth today." He paused and looked at Rumpleteazer. "Rumpleteazer, you are still welcome here as you have done no wrong. But I will understand if we see less of you."

Mungojerrie loosened his grip around Rumpleteazer's waist to show she was free to stay if she chose to, but she responded by gripping him tighter and declaring her love.

"Wot did I say ter ya when we pledged Jerrie, it takes a minute ter 'ave a crush on someone, an 'our ter loike someone and a day ter love someone - but it takes a lifetime ter forget someone. I'm not leavin' ya."

"Thank you Teazer." He stood aside, putting an arm around Rumpleteazer's waist. He turned to face the tribe."I'm sorry for everythin' I did, I really am." And without saying another word the tiger twins slowly headed out of the Junkyard towards their human home.


	2. Discovery

Rumpleteazer looked at her mate. They were both in the basket their humans had provided them. It was old but well worn. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had used it ever since the humans adopted them. The red blanket was faded and by all rights should have been in the bin. But Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer would cause havoc (that is, more havoc than normal) if the humans tried to get rid of any of it.

Mungojerrie had been getting even more use out of it than ever before in the 6 weeks since he'd been exiled from the tribe. He had barely left the basket. For the first week he hadn't said a word. Now he rarely spoke, only to proclaim his love for his mate or to ask her go, sometimes both. Jerrie had always preferred company and the fact he wanted to be alone worried Teazer. But she didn't press the matter. She knew that at any moment the old Jerrie, the one Macavity raised, could return. Mungojerrie had kept his old self under wraps since he and Teazer left the Hidden Paws lair, and he didn't intend on letting it out again. What both didn't realise was that Rumpleteazer was the one keeping them safe. Jellicle soul mates work in curious ways. One half of the soul has something the other needs and the love grows from there. In this case Rumpleteazer's soul surrounded her mates and kept the parts of him he hated hidden away. Without Rumpleteazer Mungojerrie would be a force to be reckoned with, with time perhaps becoming second only to Macavity.

Something deep inside Teazer told her to do as Jerrie wanted during this time, so she would. When she woke up she would first wrap her arms around Jerrie and draw him close. She was always first to wake up while Jerrie, even in his agitated state, slept like a log. Teazer would then wait until he woke, she would kiss him lightly on the lips and smile for him, waiting to see how the day would pan out. If he kissed her back then Jerrie wanted her to stay with him, but if he didn't and looked away then she knew she would be spending her day at the yard. Today he looked away. The smile fell from Teazer's face and she started to stroke her mate's mane.

"Why dan't ya come out wif me Jerrie?" He didn't reply but continued to look away. Rumpleteazer sighed and sat up. "I love ya Jerrie. Dan't forget that." She slowly eased out of the basket. She paused to stretch and have some food before looking at Jerrie again and leaving the house.

At the yard Teazer went straight to an old rocking chair that was placed on top of a junk pile. She looked at no-one and greeted no-one. Bombalurina and Demeter watched her from the top of the car where they were having a chat and keeping an eye on Demeter kitten, who was happily playing with Etcetera. Etcetera managed to get herself and the kitten out of Rumpleteazer's way seemly easily. An observer would think she simply swung the kit out of the way coincidently at the exact right moment. Some wondered if the way more to the tabby that they had previously thought for a brief moment, before she ungracefully fell on her tail with a giggle.

Once on the chair Teazer curled up and silently sobbed. She knew someone, most likely Skimbleshanks or Jellylorum, would come up to check on her in an hour or so, but for now she was alone.

----x----

Back at the house Mungojerrie had slumped onto his stomach and was staring at the food bowl. He knew eventually his stomach would get the better of him and he'd have to move, but for now he was quite content to lie there. His humans came in and out of the kitchen doing whatever it was they spent the day doing. Lunches were made for the oldest two as they were sent off to school, each one receiving a hug and kiss. The male left next, giving his mate an over dramatic dip and kiss before grabbing some sort of human case and leaving. Now there was only the adult female and the toddler in the house and they begun their routine of creating and cleaning mess. Had he been in a better state Mungojerrie would have smiled, he and Teazer had taught the kid well.

At about mid morning Jerrie gave in to his stomach and dragged himself out of the basket. He gobbled down as much food as he could eat before taking a long sip of water and heading back to the basket. He could smell Rumpleteazer on the red blanket and a tear fell from his eye. He knew he was hurting her but right now he felt so disappointed and angry with himself that he couldn't face her properly. Some days he would hold her but not speak. They had on occasion made love and more so than ever before Jerrie could feel her love. He knew he would have to snap out of his funk but he didn't know how. It was then that his human started Jerrie's return to normality.

"Well well Simba." He cringed slightly at his human name. "I think we're going to have to take you to the vet." Jerrie's tail flicked dangerously from side to side. He remembered his last visit to the vet, cold hands and lots of them.

"Now don't give me that. It's been over a month since you left the house, I normally can't keep you here. Nala's out all the time and its odd to not see you with her. I'm going to call the vet now; we'll get you sorted out." She turned towards the phone and Jerrie saw his chance. He jumped up and all but flung himself out the cat door. For a brief moment he felt like himself again, running from the humans attempts to control him, that's what pet life is about! But as he speed down the path to the street he looked to his side and didn't see Teazer. He slowed but kept going. Teazer and the human were right, he needed to go out. But where would he go? The Junkyard was out and he wouldn't go to the park again for a while after last time.

----x----

After an unidentifiable amount of time Mungojerrie found himself in an abandoned part of the town. He had purposely headed in the opposite direction of the Junkyard and Macavity's lair, hoping not to bump into anyone he knew. He didn't, he didn't even see another Jellicle, which he thought was strange. But his thoughts were more involved in other things. His mind played back every mistake he had made in his life, memories he had repressed were brought back, memories of brutal crimes that he regretted with his heart and soul. In particular the memories of Alonzo's mother and Cassandra's brother played in his mind. As the weeks had gone on he'd remembered more about them. Alonzo's mother was much like Alonzo, a white queen patterned with black, she also had a voluminous figure. Flora had promised herself in return for her young kitten's freedom. Macavity could see Alonzo would grow to be an agile fighter and wanted him on his side. But the thought of the mother at his beck and call tempted Macavity even more. The agreement was that Flora would stay with her son until he was three, being two and a half at the time of the agreement. But Alonzo turned three and Flora didn't come. Macavity sent her unpleasant reminders in the forms of hench cats until he sent the final reminder on Alonzo's fourth birthday, a young Mungojerrie, eager to do his uncle's work.

Idris came much later, not long before Rumpleteazer was thrust into Mungojerrie's life. He was, as Macavity put it, a fool who though he could outsmart the Napoleon of crime. Idris was much more headstrong than his sister, and much more vocal. One day he decided to trick his way into the lair and give Macavity an offer he couldn't refuse. He offered himself as a spy. As they shook on the 'deal' Idris prepared to slash Macavity's throat but unfortunately for him Mungojerrie was lurking in the shadows. The exotic tom screamed like a kitten before finally dying. Macavity didn't even watch the tom; he looked at his nephew and congratulated him on a good kill before going to wash the blood off his coat. Mungojerrie didn't know what happened to the body, he knew it ended up at the yard but he never asked how, and it was too late now.

As the last memory floated back into obscurity Mungojerrie looked up. In front of him was a human building. It was about 4 floors high but clearly abandoned. An old sign, half rotted, stated that this was once a hotel. Mungojerrie found himself entering, although he didn't know why. The doorway was boarded up but there was a Jellicle sized gap in the bottom left hand side. It looked as if a human had kicked in at some point.

Inside Mungojerrie found…mess. There wasn't really another way to describe it. The 'lobby' was full of broken chairs, a few tables, and a lot of rubbish. Jerrie noted the faint smell of humans, dirty ones, perhaps homeless ones. But whoever they were they were long gone. They had left behind a few blankets but nothing of any importance. The windows, high ones, were still intact and uncovered so light flowed into the room. On the left of the room there was a large desk; Jerrie used fallen chairs to jump on top of it. A column of dust rose causing him to cough for a moment, but once it settled he looked around. Behind the desk was more rubbish but it was spacious enough for a Jellicle, or small family of Jellicle's, to call home. On the wall were shelves which were starting to crumble in areas, but mostly looked strong enough to support a lounging Jellicle. The room didn't offer much more. There was a door to the right of the desk which Jerrie would investigate later. Next to that was a flight of stairs which Jerrie headed towards. As he walked over to them he noted another door that seemed to lead outside to some kind of garden, overgrown now of course.

Upstairs wasn't much to get excited about. There were a few door-less rooms with various bits of furniture. But Jerrie could get no further than 4 rooms as what had clearly been the next stairway had collapsed across the corridor. The rubble went right up to the roof and was not worth digging in. Jerrie gave the rooms a once over to see if there was anything worth taking but there was nothing so he headed downstairs. Three steps down he smelt someone else. An unfamiliar smell but defiantly a Jellicle. He went cautiously and realised it was a female and alone. This didn't make him any less cautious, he knew what Teazer could be like when she was angry, he learnt long ago never to underestimate Queens.

Once he was halfway down the stairs he spotted her. She was petite and clearly had some Siamese blood in her, although it was also clearly mixed with a lot of other blood. Her fur was almost completely all medium brown apart from a white muzzle, the tip of her tail, and white forearms, which gave her the illusion of human opera gloves. Her green eyes were fixed on him, she appeared to be studying Jerrie, but he couldn't figure out why.

"Mungojerrie?" Jerrie jumped slightly.

"'ow'd ya know me name?" She appeared to ignore the question.

"I have been waiting for you to arrive for days. My name is Mana." She paused as her name sank in. Jerrie recognised it but he could think where from. "I had a vision a month ago that you would arrive here and lead a new tribe to this Hotel."

"Wait, new tribe, wot 're ya on about, and 'ow do ya know me name?" Jerrie hadn't moved from his step.

"That isn't important. Please come with me, you have to meet your tribe."

"My tribe! Lady 'ave ya been hit on the head or summin? I'm a useless fool and I'm not about ter lead a tribe."

"Please come with me Mungojerrie, you must meet them, they're waiting for you, they have been for a long time." Mana seemed eternally patient.

"You're freaking me out now. Who are ya? Why is yer name familiar?" Confusion started to show slightly on Jerrie's face.

"Like you I once worked for Macavity but I escaped, as did the rest of the tribe. Please Mungojerrie. You're the only one who can lead us, you're the only one who knows our suffering."

"There's a perfectly good tribe at tha Junkyard, why don' ya all go there?"

"Do you think we'd all be accepted? Macavity hysteria is at an all time high. Some of us would be allowed to join I'm sure, some who are innocent, but what of us who aren't? What of the once who willingly worked for Macavity but have only recently seen the error of their ways…" Jerrie cut in.

"Like you?" Mana bowed her head

"Yes like me. All we want is freedom, a chance to live the life we've missed. Surely you understand." There was a thoughtful silence before Jerrie started moving down the steps.

"You're right I do. But oi'm not about ter become a tribe leader. I'll brin' yer tribe 'ere, but if I even sense a trap then I'm gone."

"Thank you Mungojerrie."

----x----

Mana lead Jerrie out of the Hotel and though a series of alleys. The whole time Jerrie kept looking around, looking for any sense of danger. After a twenty minute walk Jerrie saw a group of Jellicle's, eleven in total including Mana. Mana instantly walked into the warm embrace of a tall black tom. Everything on him was black except his light coloured lips, green eyes, and a single line of white fur on the right side of his waist.

"Allow me to introduce you to our tribe." Mana led the introductions, still clinging to the black tom's waist. "This is my mate, Darkness." Darkness nodded.

"This is Valter." she pointed to a crème and butter brown tom who was clearly a fighter. One of his dark blue eyes was missing, the lids sealed shut. But Mungojerrie had a feeling this didn't impair his abilities.

"Eclipse." A young queen smiled at the mention of her name. Her fur was mostly grey with brown and black stripes. A strong brown crescent moon shaped mark covered much of the left side of her face, which was clearly the inspiration for her name. Mungojerrie mused that she must be about the same age as Electra.

"Her brother, Ellipsis." A mostly brown young tom jumped up at the mention of his name. A dappy smile on his face denied the traumatising life he must have led. He had a white 'vest' and a white 'glove' on his right paw. His left elbow and knees were also white. On his face he had three white spots. One on his nose and one either side.

"Candi" A silver and black long haired tabby was next. She too was petite, she was also stunning, and Jerrie could tell she knew it. She gave him a flirtatious smile.

"Breeze." A red tom followed. His fur was a vibrant red, much like Bombalurina's. Splashes of black decorated his body and he seemed very agile. He also seemed quite smug, and just stared through Jerrie as if he wasn't there.

Next was an older queen called Didi. She was a long haired brown and black queen with a white bib, lower face, gloves and boots. Mana announced that Didi was blessed with healing powers.

"Mana is too kind, I can tell a body to speed up its recovery, but I am nothing without my mate, he knows the Jellicle body and can fix specific injuries." Mungojerrie noted that her face tensed at the mention of her mate. It was clear he was not here.

Standing next to her was a tall thin tom called Sion. Mungojerrie recognised him. Sion was about two years older than him and had lived within Macavity' lair his whole life. He was raised as a skilled assassin, which explained his sleek muscled body. His fur was almost completely white except for an assortment of patterns on his face and his left boot, which were black.

Bade, a vibrant gold/orange muscled tom was next. It was clear he was hench cat material. He greeted Mungojerrie with a bow, something Jerrie didn't like.

Finally there was Ruben. Ruben was a small tom who was a mix of light brown and white. It was hard to tell what colour dominated his body; each seemed to fight the other leaving a very splotchy effect.

There was an awkward silence for a moment while Jerrie looked at them all. Mana was right, if anyone understood what they'd been though then it was him. Before he spoke again his Jellicle senses picked up a storm, he noticed many of the others noticed it as well.

"I found a place ya can stay, its dry an' everythin'" He purposely glanced at Mana as he said it. He waited for confirmation from the small tribe that they wanted to follow him, and it came in the form of a joint hug from Eclipse and Ellipsis.

----x----

Jerrie lead them back through the alleys, his well trained memory proving its worth. They arrived at the hotel just before the rain started. Jerrie and Darkness ushered everyone in before coming in last. Inside the Jellicle's had already started exploring, Valter and Bade began checking the walls and windows for weak points and found that it was thankfully intact. Eclipse and Ellipsis started a small game of tag, the fallen chairs providing plenty of obstacles to be overcome. Darkness kissed Mana, who was waiting for him inside the entrance, before going to secure it and find a spot to guard it from. Jerrie turned to Mana and spoke quietly but insistently.

"Why didn' ya lead them 'ere, ya clearly knew about it." She looked at him sternly.

"Don't question me Mungojerrie, this is how this is meant to happen, I've seen it. This tribe will do something great with you at its head, although I don't know what." She paused. "Everything happens for a reason. You were exiled from the Junkyard for a reason, they found out the truth for a reason." Mungojerrie hissed and started to make towards the exit. "Don't worry Mungojerrie, I am a psychic, nothing more. I'll admit I knew of you and of your past. At times I worked quite close to Macavity and he did divulge some information, but of course never anything I could us to my advantage." Mana walked around Jerrie to face him.

"We are all victims of your uncle, we need a leader who understands us and who won't judge us for what we've done. Can you think of anyone better than yourself?"

"No, I won' be a tribe leader, I ain't the bloody wite tom fer tha job, but oi'd like ter stay 'round, if you'll let me."

"Of course, I understand. You are more than welcome to stay." She put a paw on Jerrie's shoulder. "We'd be honoured. To be honest, to some of us you're a hero, you're the first to really break free of Macavity." Jerrie let out a grin.

"Well…almost." Mana laughed lightly and let her paw fall from Jerrie's shoulder. He nodded at her and head over to the right hand side of the lobby where an old padded bench had lost its legs and now lay on the floor. Jerrie sat on it and continued to observe the Jellicle's, the whole time thinking of Rumpleteazer. Would he tell her about this? No probably not, not yet anyway, not until he really knew what was going on and his position in it all. But he would talk to her tonight, really talk. He would apologise, a lot for his recent behaviour, she deserved that and more. He also tried to figure what had prompted his change in attitude today. Yesterday he could have contently stayed in that basket for the rest of his miserable life, but today… Was Mana right? Did everything today happen for a reason? He certainly felt comfortable here, and not just because of the padding he was sitting on. Teazer would definitely get a taste of the old Jerrie tonight, which was the only thing he was certain of at that moment.

Mana went over to her mate who had climbed up to a front window which had a fairly good view of the street, and of any possible intruders. She mused that she would need to make this window sill comfy as they would probably be spending a lot of time here.

"Well my love, how is he taking it?" Darkness had a surprisingly posh accent; if he were human he would be considered upper class.

"He refuses to accept it, but who can blame him? This morning he was a lone tom, and then he suddenly he gets told he's going to be leader of a tribe. It will take time but he'll get there." Mana sat in-between Darkness' legs, Darkness was leaning against one end of the windowsill, eyes fixed on the outside but still paying attention to his mate. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

"Well, we are here, that is the start. We have shelter." Rain patted on the window. It was only a light shower but both Jellicle's were still glad to be inside.


	3. Didi

Mungojerrie was walking the now familiar route home from the Hotel. It had been three weeks since he'd discovered the tribe and he was surprised at how settled he felt there. He smiled as he realised it was about time he told Rumpleteazer about it.

The first night he'd left the Hotel did everything he promised himself he'd do. He apologised to Rumpleteazer and she was so happy to see some of her old Jerrie back that she almost choked him… in a loving way of course.

Jerrie turned a corner and froze, not out of fear but out of curiosity. Up ahead he could hear Teazer talking to the Rum Tum Tugger. Tugger lived a block away from the tiger twins and sometimes walked home with them. Now that Rumpleteazer was walking back alone Tugger made a point of walking with her, for protection. Everyone knew Teazer could look after herself but since Jerrie's exile she hadn't been the same perky queen and many were worried.

Jerrie could hear concern in Teazer's voice.

"Oi dunno Tugger. 'e comes 'ome so late, 'nd oi can always smell other jellicle's on 'im. What if e's gone back ter Macca, or 'e's found sumone else?!" He heard her sob and his heart broke. Jerrie hadn't realised Teazer was feeling this way, he would have told her sooner if he had known.

"Now come on Teazer, you and I both know Jerrie would never go back to old Macca. And as for finding someone else, well, he'd be a fool if he did. You're his soul mate, he knows that. You're just getting worked up over nothing." This was a side of Tugger that was rarely seen, but he couldn't stand seeing a queen cry, that was one of the few things guaranteed to soften the Tugger persona.

"But there's this one smell, always on 'im…maybe yer right…"

"Of course I am, when is the Tugger ever wrong?" Years of experience told Jerrie that Tugger flashed a grin there. "Tonight you should talk to him, tell him what you're feeling, and if it turns out the worst has happened then point him in my direction, I'll whack some sense into that thick head of his." Teazer giggled slightly and tried to sniffle her tears away.

"Thank yer Tugger."

"No worries Teaz, you gonna be alright?"

"Yeah, oi'd better go wash meself up, can't confront Jerrie like this can i?" This time Tugger laughed.

"See you soon Teaz." And with that Tugger left Teazer in front of her human home and headed towards his own, determined to annoy his humans as much as possible tonight.

Jerrie stayed where he was for a while. He hadn't realised how distant and stupid he had been. Going out all the time, never telling Teazer where he was going, and coming home smelling of unknown Jellicle's, no wonder she thought the worst. He knew Teazer would take some time to regain her composure; tears were something she never did by halves, so Jerrie sat against a wall thinking of the best way to tell Teazer the truth.

----x----

Rumpleteazer sat upright in the basket. She was ready to confront Jerrie when he came in, late as usual. It was odd she thought. They didn't have a home time, they'd never agreed to be back at a certain time but somehow he was always late! Was he staying away purposely or were her hormones just making her look for trouble?

At last he came in. He entered the same way as every day, a smile on his face and a spring in his step. Although she had to admit it did look slightly forced today.

"'ello Teazer, yer look beautiful tonight." He got half way across the floor but stopped when Rumpleteazer spoke.

"Don' do that Jerrie!"

"Do what?"

"Don' sweet talk me, oi'm mad at yer I am."

"Whys that me love?"

"Stoppit! What's goin' on? Where do yer go every day?" Tears threatened to reform in her eyes but Teazer fought them.

"Oi was wonderin' when yer'd ask, it's a surprise, yer wanna come along with me termorrow?"

"Why should i?"

"Because I love yer and I want to share this with yer." There was an uncomfortable silence.

"I will come with yer tomorrow Jerrie, but I won' let yer sleep wit me tonight, go sleep in that t v room."

"If that's 'ow yer wants it then so be it." He padded over towards Teazer and gave a quick kiss on the cheek, something she didn't protest to, she even happily sighed. With a grin he headed towards what the humans called a lounge to demand the armchair from the tom human who would be sitting in it.

----x----

The next morning Teazer awoke to the smell of bacon, the human queen was clearly cooking up a treat. Normally she would nick some with Jerrie's help but today Rumpleteazer felt sick to her stomach. Today was the day she found out the truth. She turned over and jumped at the sight of Jerrie sitting calmly on the other side of the basket. This was the first time she could think of that Jerrie had woken up first.

"Wakey Wakey love, it's toime fer tha surprise." Teazer purposely took her time getting up, making sure to stretch seductively for Jerrie. This was a ploy she used whenever they had an argument and it was his fault (which it normally was). Make sure he knows what he's missing if the tiff doesn't work out on Teazer's favour. It was a trick Bombalurina would be proud of.

"Alright then Jerrie, lets go." They walked calmly out the door, something the human was suspicious about, and continued calmly down the street.

----x----

They stated getting into unfamiliar areas and Teazer became overly cautious. Her ears were alert and focused on any noise, her tailed darted back and forth dangerously and her claws were partly out. This didn't go un-noticed on Mungojerrie.

"Calm down love, we're safe, do yer think oi'd let nyone 'urt ya?" Teazer studied her mates face for a moment.

"Nah, oi know yer wouldn't." Her claws went back in but she was still anxious.

The walk continued without another word shared between them. Eventually they reached the Hotel. Jerrie stood in front of Teazer and spread his arms as a magician would.

"Ta Da!" Teazer stared blankly at him.

"A 'oel?"

"No, it's a Hotel, or it was, now it's the 'ome to a new tribe."

"A new tribe? Jerrie what the bloody 'ells going on?"

Jerrie explained how he'd come across the Hotel and Mana all those weeks ago. He explained everything he knew about the tribe, their situation, and why he felt comfortable with them. And lastly he told her why he hadn't mentioned them before.

"Yer a fool Jerrie. Yer think oi'd of ratted yer out ter Munkus? Do yer know me at all?"

"Oi knew yer wouldn' 'ave said anything on purpose, but yer never know what Tanto and Cori could pick up on. There's sum wanted Jellicle's in 'ere, sum of 'em would be killed first 'nd asked questions later, and they'd be tha first ter admit it were right to do so. But they all want a shot at freedom first." Teazer threw her arms around Jerrie, holding herself close.

"Oh Jerrie. Oi've been a bleedin' fool oi ave. Oi thought yer were back with Macca or 'aving an affair." She cried shamelessly into his shoulder fur. "Oi'm so sorry."

"Don't be love. I'm tha one 'oo should be sorry. Oi should've told yer right from the go." He held her until the tears subsided. "Do yer wanna come in and meet everyone?"

"Of course I do."

Jerrie lead her over to the entrance and knocked. Within moments Mana had pulled aside the 'door' and they were in. At first Teazer couldn't believe her eyes. There were Jellicle's of all shapes and sizes in the Hotel. Two young Jellicle's raced in front of her, clearly enjoying a game of tag. Many of the older ones were brooding or talking in small groups. She counted at least seventeen Jellicle's, and that was only the ones she could see. She also noted that a clearly comfortable padded bench top was left strangely vacant.

"dis is Mana." Jerrie gestured towards the petite queen, "and her mate Darkness." He pointed up to the window sill where the dark tom nodded with a smile.

"Rumpleteazer, it's an honour to finally meet you. Mungojerrie does nothing but talk about you." Mana extended her paw in a friendly gesture; she could tell the tiger queen felt uneasy around her and wanted to comfort her in some way. Rumpleteazer returned the gesture cautiously.

"Thanks, I hope my Jerrie 'asn't been causing too much trouble for yer." Jerrie couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes mum." The two young Jellicle's came running back to the trio.

"Hello." The tom chirped happily.

"'ello." Teazer replied, equally chirpy.

"Are you Rumpleteazer?" The young queen slapped the toms arm.

"Don't be so rude Lipsy." She hissed/whispered to him.

"I am, don' worry I don' think yer being rude." A smile played on Teazer's face now; these two already reminded her of the youngsters at the yard. "And 'oo are you two?"

"My names Ellipsis, and this is my sister Eclipse. She's a bully." He said this with a huge grin on his face, Teazer couldn't help but laugh.

"Lipsy! You're so rude! I'm not a bully miss, I'm just a queen." This time Teazer almost fell over with laughter.

"Never were truer words said luv, I loike you already." She turned to her mate. "Oi can't believe you kept this from me, especially when they all seem ter know me, you're gonna pay for that one Jer." All worrying thoughts were lost. Teazer was content that nothing dodgy was going on, now she was just enjoying her old Jerrie again.

"Oi 'ope so love." A devilish smile played on Jerrie's features, good times were certainly ahead.

Jerrie lead Rumpleteazer over to the bench top and made himself comfy. It was comfier than normal because of the queen curled against his side. He couldn't remember when he'd felt this good. Eclipse and Ellipsis joined them, all thoughts of tag forgotten.

----x----

Once they were comfy Didi came over. She looked slightly upset, as she always did. Not long after they arrived at the Hotel Mungojerrie had learned of Didi's story.

Didi and her mate, Asa, were healers from a tribe a long way from here. Back there they were happy. They healed small wounds mostly from falls or small accidents. They had never imagined someone like Macavity could exist until his hench cats discovered them. Healer were extremely rare, a Jellicle might meet one a life time if they were lucky, this old tribe was truly blessed, they had two!

Didi and Asa were soul mates who had known each other as kits. Didi had discovered her powers at a young age, she was playing with a small group of kits and one of them fell onto a shard of glass carelessly left around by a human. Didi was left to comfort the tom while the others ran for an elder, as she held him close she felt a strange sensation, she felt a tingling from where ever her body touched his. As they waited they noticed the wound, a deep one with plenty of blood, start to heal faster than anything they had ever seen. Neither knew what was happening and by the time the other Jellicle's were back the wound was merely a scratch. Each kit got a scolding that day for causing unnecessary worry.

Asa was one of the kittens in that group and he had discovered his powers years later when Didi was giving birth to their first kitten. They had 3 kittens in total, two toms and a princess, Evan, Ivar and Cora. Cora was the baby of the family and the boys were her unofficial guardians during those unruly kitten games.

One day their tribe was attacked by an unfamiliar tom. He brought with him many other toms and an offer. He wanted Didi and Asa to work for him. The ginger tom would not take no for an answer, and certainly didn't want their kittens coming along. He proclaimed with a horrible laugh that he had enough kittens that would grow up to do his bidding, why would he want three more that will just distract their parents? Didi and Asa tried to refuse but the tom made it clear they would be coming with him no matter what. From behind them the parents heard the scream of their youngest. They instantly forgot the ginger tom and ran for their kittens.

A horrifying sight awaited them. Two large toms had Evan and Cora cornered against a wall while Ivar lay before them. Ivar's fur was torn, a sickening wound disfigured his face, and blood was everywhere. Didi and Asa didn't need their powers to see that he was dead. Didi let out a deafening scream at the sight of her baby and lunged for the toms, Asa was one step ahead of her. They tore at the toms with all the power they could muster; they would not let their last two kittens suffer the same fate. The toms may have both of them beat on height and strength, but they parents were more powerful because they knew what they could lose.

Didi and Asa managed to kill the toms but not without suffering their own wounds. The worst was a deep scar that tore Didi's shoulder fur from her. Even to this day she could not grow fur there. Once the toms fell they wasted no time and embraced Evan and Cora for all they were worth. The kittens were hysterical and even their parents comforting voices couldn't calm them down.

Behind them they heard a slow solitary clap. They got up and turned around, each holding a kitten behind them. The ginger tom was standing there alone. In the distance they could see their tribe fighting for their lives, many of them were losing.

"Well done, very well done. You are healers and you can fight. I have, as they say, struck gold with you two." He didn't move from his spot. "Now you will be coming with me. If you come now I will call of my Jellicle's and no-one else needs to die today." A dyeing scream that Didi recognised as belonging to the tom who had helped her discover her powers, rang out.

"And our kittens?!" Asa stated with panting breath.

"They are of no consequence to me, let them stay." Didi and Asa looked at each other, they knew this was the only option. At least they could find comfort in the fact that Evan and Cora would be raised by loving Jellicle's.

"Ok then. We'll come with you. Please let us have a moment to say goodbye." Didi pleaded. The tom looked unimpressed but waved a paw in agreement.

Didi and Asa turned back to their kittens and gathered them in a group hug.

"Babies, always remember we love you. Look after each other and never forget your brother." Didi found it hard to speak as her throat chocked on tears.

"Mum?..." Evan found the courage to speak.

"We're so sorry we've let you down, me and your mum with never forget you. We love you so much." They embraced one last time before another pair of toms forcibly pulled the parents away. Tears flowed freely and they chocked again at the final sight of Ivar's body.

They were lead away from the only tribe they had ever known, completely surrounded so as not to escape.

"My name, as you should know, is Macavity. Remember it, but you will call me sir from now on, is that understood?" Neither Jellicle spoke, or even looked at Macavity. He laughed. "Oh don't be so sad, who knows, you might like it in my lair." He grinned at the lead Jellicle. "Oh dear, I believe we've forgotten someone, where is Ratty? He must have gone back to play with the kittens…" Didi and Asa's head shot up and they tried to run back but it was too late. They heard two screams…and then the world went black as they were knocked into unconsciousness, the last sounds they heard were a mix of kitten's screams and Macavity's laughter.

Since then both of them worked as healers for Macavity, they had no choice. Eventually they planned an escape with Valter, Eclipse and Ellipsis. All was going as planned until one tom saw them. Asa went back to fight the tom to give the others a chance and Didi had to be carried away by Valter. Even now she knew her mate was alive and many knew this was the only thing keeping her alive, inside at least. Her fur was terribly unkempt, her mane was long and raggy, her eyes dull and her ears almost always folded. She had been like that since the death of her kittens, but the loss of her mate made it worse.

Mungojerrie gave Didi a sad smile as she came over. He knew there was no point trying to make her smile, nothing short of Asa himself could do it.

"Two more arrived last night Mungojerrie, but i think only one will make it. I can't heal him alone, if only Asa…" She gained a faraway look but shock it away. "I can only speed up the body's natural healing process; Asa could find the injuries and help direct our powers towards it."

"Oi know Didi, try yer best, tha's all we ask. If 'e dosn' make it we'll make sure 'e gets a proper burial." She nodded and headed back to the old desk. Behind it she had set up her 'hospital'. The curtained off area granted her patients the privacy they deserved.

"Why's she so sad Jer?" Teazer watched the older queen leave with concern.

"Oi'll tell yer later love, oi don' wan' tha kits ter hear it." He held her closer than before.

"Kits…" Teazer sounded like she was trying to remember something. "kits…kits!"

"Teazer, what yer doing?" Jerrie raised an eyebrow and looked at her upturned face.

"Jerrie! Oi wer so mad at yer tha' oi forgot ter tell yer, oi'm pregnant!" Jerrie said nothing. "Jerrie? Yer gonna be a Daddy!"

Eclipse squealed a noise that would put Etcetera to shame. "Congratulations! Ellipsis, there's going to be a kitten around! I love kittens." Teazer couldn't help but giggle.

"Thank you luv." She looked back at Jerrie. "So Jer, you gonna say anythin'?"

Jerrie was staring at nothing, seemingly frozen; he said the only thing that came to his head.

"Bloody 'ell." All three Jellicle's broke down into fits of laughter as Jerrie continued staring.


	4. New Arrival

A couple of months passed and Rumpleteazer's pregnancy was starting to show. At first Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were nervous as to what their humans would think, but they accepted the news with open arms, they were picking out names already.

Jerrie was spending more and more time at the Hotel, which he enjoyed more now that he could take Teazer with him. The tribe had grown dramatically, now numbering thirty five Jellicle's of various colours, sizes, skills and histories. Some joked that Macavity's ranks would be looking thin by now but those who had been forced into the service knew the Hidden Paw had way to pad the ranks out. Every few days a Jellicle disappeared, only to be replaced by another, many of them using the Hotel as a pit stop before getting on with life. Despite his objections Mungojerrie had become the unofficial leader of the Hotel tribe, many of the escapees saw him as a hero. This was Mungojerrie, the first escapee to find a new happy life, and a mate! They could only dream of such a thing.

Every time they went to the Hotel Mungojerrie was amazed by Rumpleteazer. She knew the horrors many of these Jellicle's had been through or committed (although, Jerrie always noted, not first hand, thank the everlasting cat), and yet she spoke to each of them as if she had known them her entire life, her life not theirs. Jerrie knew Teazer was never shy, never, but he was amazed at how open she was with them. Even the most brooding, scariest looking tom was no match for her perkiness. Jerrie suspected that she would confront the everlasting cat if given the chance.

Jerrie and Teazer were relaxing on the padded bench top; Jerrie was sitting up with Teazer's head in his lap as they both were happily lost in thought. Later on Rumpleteazer knew she would have to go to the Junkyard for a check up. Jellylorum and Jennyanydots were keeping extra close eyes on the tiger queen's pregnancy, especially now that they had no idea where she spent most of her days. She of course enjoyed hanging around with her friends at the junkyard as well, but would much rather be with her mate. It had been a few days since she'd been back and she knew Jelly and Jenny would be getting worried. But for now there was nothing to worry about and nothing to do but enjoy the closeness of Mungojerrie.

Jerrie was in a similar state of mind with one exception. He had noticed Mana and Darkness were looking out for something. Darkness' training and Mana's psychic abilities made them the perfect guards, and more often than not you would see them sitting, quite relaxed, on the windowsill. Darkness would always keep his eyes on the outside while he and Mana shared unspoken conversations. But today there were both staring intently out the window in one direction. Yes something was defiantly coming.

No sooner had the thought entered his mind Mungojerrie was summoned to the window by Mana. Her voice eased into his mind and requested his presence at the entrance. Jerrie could see Darkness jumping down off the sill and heading outside. He also saw Didi and Eclipse, whom Didi had started to train, heading over.

"Scuse me luv. Oi'm needed over there fer a minute." He said to Rumpleteazer, who sat up to get a better view of what was happening. One paw automatically went to her stomach and stroked the kitten that was growing in there. She gave Jerrie a smile and he set off to see what was going on.

Jerrie got to the entrance just as Darkness was coming back through. Limping at his side, being held up by the dark tom, was a young tom. Mungojerrie gasped as he realised who it was.

"Pounce! Wha' 're yer doin' 'ere?" He was instantly at the injured toms other side.

"Jerrie…what…huh?" Pouncival wheezed each word out.

"Now now, we'll have none of that until I've had a look at you. Darkness, Mungojerrie, bring him over to my clinic. Eclipse, go and set up some pillows for him." The smaller grey queen ran ahead at the older brown queens' orders. Didi may be quiet socially, but when a Jellicle was injured she became something like her former self. Before the loss of her kittens Didi had been very sociable and friendly with most Jellicle's but now…well, she barely saw the point. Now she was alone the only thing that kept her going was making sure others lived. Darkness and Mungojerrie walked slowly with Pouncival between them towards the curtained off area behind the old lobby desk. Rumpleteazer had joined the small group as soon as she heard Jerrie exclaim who it was.

They got Pouncival to the clinic and lying down on some comfy pillows before he collapsed. Rumpleteazer rested Pounce's head in her lap to try and comfort him. She was shocked at the sight of the normally hyper active tom. He was covered in dry blood and she could see some of the wounds that were to blame. His right eye and lips were swollen and his eyes and mouth were now tightly closed, this was a discomforting thought. Pounce was always making some kind of noise. With a smile Rumpleteazer remembered the countless times Jenny or Jelly had tried to get Pounce to go to sleep, only to find themselves fighting a losing battle, he would always find something else to distract him or something else to talk about. His left ankle was also swollen, which accounted for his limp. His tail was the only thing that remained the same as before, it was dirty but still twitching from side to side. Everyone got worried when Pounce's tail sat still.

Didi instantly started the healing process. Her powers reminded the body what it should be like and set about bringing it was to full health. Without her mate, who could locate exact problems and help her focus her powers on them, it was a slow and sometimes painful process. She always had her patients lie down as they usually became quite dizzy. Pounce kept his eyes closed but winced, shuddered and jumped as various things happened inside of him. The worst was when the power reached his ankle. Didi motioned for Rumpleteazer to hold Pounce's shoulders as she gently put her paws around the swollen ankle as she sensed her powers moving in that direction. There was a dull click as the ankle realigned itself and Rumpleteazer almost got thrown back as Pounce jolted up. He was breathing heavily and staring at nothing as his mind registered what was going on. He looked around as if he only now realised where he was. He saw Mungojerrie standing next to a brown queen, both staring at him. At his ankle another brown queen was slightly hunched over with her eyes shut and arms extended, as if she was focusing on something. Then there was a young grey queen and Rump…wait, young grey queen? His eyes darted back to Eclipse and she blushed at his gaze. Rumpleteazer stifled a giggle and stroked his mane before gently guiding him back into a lying down position. She had seen full grown toms fall straight over because of Didi's powers so she had no idea what effect they would have a small thing like Pounce.

Didi stood up and moved over to Pouncival's side and made herself comfy on her favourite cushion, a big black and white one, which Eclipse had brought over.

"He can talk now but don't overdo it. He'll need a lot of rest. Too many big movements may distract my work, which will make the process even longer." She nodded at Mungojerrie and Mana before crossing her legs and resting her paws on her knees. She closed her eyes and concentrated. The urgent major work had been patched, now it was time to fix everything and make sure the problems didn't return.

The Jellicle's waited until they were sure Didi was working before turning to Pouncival.

"So come on then Pounce, wha' 'appened to yer?" Jerrie prompted. Pounce looked nervously at Mana and Eclipse. "Don' worry abou' them, they're friends. This is Mana nd tha's Eclipse. Lips is 'ere ter 'elp Didi, 'oo's tha one fixin' yer up, nd Mana's 'ere ter make sure yer ain't a threat. Even tho me and Teazer could tell 'er yer aren't." Both queens smiled at Pounce, Eclipse smiled a bit more coyly than normal though. Pounce took a deep breath.

"Ok then. Well, I was back at the yard…"

---

"Jemi! Jemi! Jeeeeemmmmiiii!!" All the Jellicle's in the Junkyard smiled as Etcetera bounded around the piles. The younger Jellicle's were playing hide and seek and Etcetera was it again. She had never fully grasped the whole seek concept of the game.

"Jemi! Where are you?! This is no fair!" She jumped over the tyre and just missed Bombalurina, who was lounging against it.

"Watch it Cetty!"

"Sorry Bomby. Hey, have you seen Jemi?" A mature giggle sounded behind Etcetera.

"Now Etectera, that would be cheating." Jennyanydots placed a gentle paw on her shoulder.

"Oh, but Jenny…"

"No, now come on, you can find them." The young queen jumped off on the hunt again.

"You saw her too?" Bomby raised an eyebrow and Jenny couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes, behind the oven, Cetty must have walked past her five times by now. She is hopeless." Jenny sat herself next to the scarlet bomb shell. Many would be shocked to see them chatting but both loved a good bit of gossip. Jellylorum would be along soon no doubt.

Etectera bounded up another junk pile and saw one of her pray.

"Pounce!! I found you!" She leaped on Pouncival who was hiding behind an abandoned rocking chair.

"Cetty!" At first he chuckled and smiled at his friend, but the he realised she wasn't letting go.

"Come on get off, you don't need to jump me like that." He tried to pry her paws apart, which were locked around his chest. "Ok come on Cetty, let me go and I'll help you find the others." Etcetera let go so suddenly that Pouncival didn't have time to catch his balance. He had been pulling away from the crème queen and now found himself pulling against nothing, gravity did the rest. He fell down the pile with less grace than a pollicle and landed on his back in a box with a food package on his head. Some Jellicle's came to see what the commotion was about, one of them was Electra.

"Ha! Nice one Pounce. Do you act that way around all the queens or is Cetty just special?" Electra then fell into a fit of laughter. "We should call you Flounce instead of Pounce."

"Pounce? Are you ok? I'm sorry I didn't mean…." Etcetera had climbed down and was now inching toward Pounce. Before she could finish he threw the food package off his head and jumped up, startling her.

"I'm fine." He started to walk away but Etcetera grabbed his arm, she looked at him full of concern. Electra was still laughing and others were joining in. Bombalurina was one of them. Like most of the toms Pouncival had a crush on the scarlet queen, her laughing was a real blow to his ego. His friends Tumblebrutus and Admetus were laughing as well, holding each other up to stop from falling over.

"Pounce I really didn't mean to hurt you." Pouncival yanked his arm away before once again stating he was fine. If Pouncival could have gone red he would have, he had never been so embarrassed in his whole life. He started walking again, this time out of the yard. Jelly and Jenny tried to stop him but it didn't work. Pounce just needed to clear his head.

Pouncival made it to the park and sat himself to the side out of the way. Small tears of embarrassment had started forming in his eyes.

"I didn't want to play that silly game anyway." Of course no-one heard Pouncival but he spoke anyway. "Stupid Electra laughing at me like that. Why does she always pick on me?" He decided to lay on his front with his head leaning on his arms. "She never picks on the others like that." The memory of Etcetera's concerned face flashed in his mind and he winced at the thought. Etcetera was always so care free, Pounce had often thought he would hurt anyone who took that joy away from her and now he was part of the problem.

Some human pre-teens spotted Pouncival lying down and decided to go over and play. Pounce was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice them until too late.

"Hey look at this cat, what kind of mess is it?" The biggest one picked Pouncival up with both hands and Pounce instantly started struggling to get away, but the human had a good grip.

"Look at that eye patch, what are you a pirate?" Another one joined in the tormenting while Pounce continued to struggle. One set of claws made a mark on the second tormenter.

"Son of a…" The pre-teen pulled his hand away and the third and final human joined in by hitting Pouncival on the side of his head. Pounce became stunned and stopped struggling so much. The bleeding human yanked Pounce's tail causing him to yowl and dig his claws into the human that was holding him. The boy threw Pounce away as a natural reaction and he was unfortunately caught by the third boy. This boy had a tighter grip and Pouncival knew he was in for some big bruises. He made a fairly weak attempt at clawing the boys face but was thrown again before he could reach. The second boy caught him this time and instantly threw him again. Pounce was heading towards the first boy again but the human missed and Pounce hit the ground with a thud. He groaned and tried to stand up to run away but fell down, his head was spinning.

"Ha! It didn't even land on its feet!" All three laughed as one of them picked Pouncival up again; Pounce's vision was starting to spin so he wasn't sure who it was. He winced as his bruises were pressed.

"Let's go see if it can land on its feet somewhere else." They boys looked at each other knowingly as Pounce was stuffed into a backpack. He curled up and started to cry again. The bag was fairly big and Pounce was grateful that he was only sharing it with some human clothing. The ride was bumpy but Pounce still managed to fall asleep…or did he pass out, he wasn't too sure.

The back pack was thrown open and Pouncival blinked at the sudden light. He was pulled out if the bag, adding new bruises to his torso. A few blinks cleared his vision and he saw that they were standing against a wall. The boys were clearly standing on some bins or something similar and dangling the tom over the wall. Pouncival began to panic at the drop, but his panic rose even more as he felt the faint smell of pollicles drifting over him. The panic made him struggle which annoyed the humans.

"Stupid cat, let's get rid of him, he's boring now."

"Ok, on the count of three drop him, if he doesn't land on his feet this time then you owe me a tango." One of the boys huffed. "I'm telling you it's all bogus, how can a cat always land on his feet."

"It's true! I've seen it!"

"He didn't land on his feet earlier did he? No, therefore it's a load of bull."

"That was clearly a fluke. My brother told me it was true, you calling my brother a liar?"

"No just you." A small scuffle was about to break out before the human holding Pouncival spoke up.

"Oi, this cat is squirming. If it scratches me again I'll turn it into dog food. So can we get on with this, someone count." The sceptic began the countdown.

"Three, two…one!" Pouncival was dropped unceremoniously down the wall. During normal play Pounce would probably have thought nothing of this drop but with all the bruises and the knocks to his head he wasn't feeling himself. He somehow managed to land on his feet, but he heard a small crack in his left ankle. This caused him to stumble over, landing almost face first in the dust. He heard the horrible laughter above him again.

"See I was right, that'll be one Tango mate."

"No way, he landed on his feet!"

"Er let me check; yep that's one cat on his ass in the dirt."

"He fell afterwards…"

"Let's sort this out later, Simpsons is on in twenty minutes and I want to see it, come on." The boys jumped down and ran off leaving Pouncival on the wrong side of the wall, injured and lost.

---

"…after that I just started walking, hoping the pollicles wouldn't smell me, but they did. Luckily they weren't out to kill, they just wanted some fun." Pouncival almost spat that last phrase.

"They nipped me a few times and got me down a few more but got bored. Then I started wondering looking for anything familiar. I don't know how long I was wondering for, at least a day. Then I smelt some Jellicle's and followed the scent. By then I didn't even care if it turned out to be some of Macavity's bully boys, at least then I wouldn't just die in an ally all alone."

"Pouce, yer no' gonna die. Didi'll fix yer up." Rumpleteazer stated matter-of-factually, still with Pounce's head in her lap.

"I know. So that's my story, now what in the dog house is going on here? Is this where you've been hiding?" He looked questionably up at Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie.

"No' really hidin' Pounce, jus' livin'. This is a new troibe, they're made up of ex Macca agen's who jus' wan' freedom." Jerrie explained the best he could without making them all sound like the 'bully boys' Pouncival had been referring to.

"An' they've gone an' made my Jerrie they're leader." Teazer added with a giggle.

"No way, Jerrie?" Pounce looked at the tiger tom semi critically. "Nope I just can't imagine that…no offence."

"None taken Pounce, oi can' believe it myself really." Jerrie couldn't help but laugh. Mana also let out a small laugh. Suddenly Didi looked up.

"The healing is about to get quite intense, I'd prefer it if you left. Pouncival is likely to become unconscious quite soon." She saw a look of worry on the toms face. "Don't worry boy, it's only to let the healing carry on. It'll just feel like a relaxing sleep." The worry subsided a little bit but not completely. He turned to the tiger twins.

"You'll be here when I wake up won't you?"

"Of course we will be luv, we'll leave ter let Didi do 'er stuff bu' we'll be wite outside, won' we Jerrie?"

"Yeah we will." They both gave Pouncival a reassuring smile and stroke before leaving with Mana. They exited the curtains and made themselves comfy right outside, just as they'd promised. Mana turned to them.

"I'm sorry, if I'd have known you knew him I would have let you earlier, my senses were vague, I thought he was just another unknown."

"Don' blame yerself Mana, yer couldn' 'ave known." Jerrie reassured her. She nodded at the couple before heading back to the sill and her mate.

Meanwhile in the clinic Pouncival was still conscious and enjoying a gentle wash from Eclipse. The water was cold but it felt good to feel clean again. Didi was once again concentrating and dead to the world so they were for all intents and purposes alone. Somehow this made them even shyer with each other.

"So…how did you end up here?" Pounce began.

"It's a long story, you might not be awake long enough to hear it. Let's just say my parents worked for Macavity but now they're dead so me and my brother fled." Eclipse was working on the dried blood on Pouncival's right arm. "I really like it here though. I just wish there were more Jellicle's around of my age. My brother's ok but sometime you just need someone else you know?"

"Kind of, in my tribe there's a group of us at similar ages, but I know what you mean about a change." He winced slightly as the flannel Eclipse was using went over a cut.

"Sorry…That Etcetera sounds nice…I wish I'd grown up with Jellicle's like that."

"She is, she's so ditzy sometimes but there's more to her than meets the eye. You'd like Jemima as well, everyone like Jemima. Electra's ok when she's not taking the mick out of you…" Pounce's eyes rolled slightly. "Feeling very tired…"

"That'll be what Didi was talking about, just let yourself sleep." Without much prompting Pouncival closed his eyes and let the wonderful release of sleep take him over. Eclipse smiled at his sleeping form and continued the wash.

Hours passed as Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer waited. The normal Hotel activity continued around them. A few toms scuffed as something to do rather than as a fight. Many of them had been raised fighting and it was taking a while to get used to the fact that they didn't have to.

Breeze and Candi flirted with each other under a window. They were just talking but Candi's pose and Breeze's approving glances suggested something more was going on.

Ellipsis was looking bored; he always did while Eclipse was working. Eclipse and Ellipsis were the youngest members of the tribe and really only had each other. After a while one of the younger adults took pity on the brown tom and started playing a game of tag with him.

Didi came out through the curtain to find Rumpleteazer asleep against Mungojerrie's shoulder.

"Mungojerrie? I've done what I can. I think he'll be fine; he just needs plenty of rest. I wouldn't recommend moving him for a while so he'll have to stay here." She didn't wait for a reply before going back inside for some rest. Mungojerrie gently woke Rumpleteazer up and they walked in to find Pouncival just starting to wake up. Eclipse was sitting near him and keeping an eye on him.

"'Ey Pounce. Didi says yer'll 'ave to 'ang around fer a while til yer get better." Rumpleteazer sat down next to Pouncival again. "Bu' don' worry. Oi'm sure Eclipse 'ere will see yer made comfy." She winked at the grey queen before reaching back to slap Mungojerrie's leg to stop him laughing.

"Rumpleteazer!" Both Eclipse and Pouncival exclaimed together, which caused Eclipse to blush again. She had to admit, she did find this tom very attractive, and she was getting close to an acceptable dating age…but…'well but what? There's nothing holding me back is there?' Her mind tried to come up with a reason not to even think of Pouncival in a romantic way. It threw a few excuses at her. You don't know him. He's from another tribe. What about Ellipsis? But the logical part of her mind argued against her. You've got plenty of time to get to know him. So what if he's from another tribe. Ellipsis will understand, and he'll find someone for himself one day. Her thoughts were interrupted.

"Yer can stay as long as yer loike Pounce. We'll make sure the junkyard know yer ok." Mungojerrie gave a reassuring grin.

The next day Rumpleteazer went to the Junkyard for a check up. Jellylorum reported that all was fine with the unborn kitten but was still annoyed that Teazer was spending so much time away.

"I know you're not at your human home dear, Jenny and I popped round yesterday and neither you or Mungojerrie were there. Please tell me where you both are."

"Oi'm sorry Jelly, oi can' tell yer yet. You'll know eventually bu oi promised Jerrie oi wouldn' tell." Jelly continued to protest but Teazer would not be moved.

After the check up Teazer went to see Tantomile and Coricopat

"Good morning Rumpleteazer. How is the Hotel going." Tantomile greeted the Tiger queen with a smile while Coricopat motioned for her to sit down.

"Oi 'ad a feelin' you already knew 'bout it." She sat down slowly. "What ain't yer told anyone else 'bout it?"

"Because we know it isn't the right time. When the time is right the Hotel will be revealed but it won't be by me and Coricopat. Trust us on that."

"Oi do trust yer. Can oi ask yer ter do me a favour?"

"Of course Teazer."

"Pounce is at the 'otel and 'urt. We're lookin' after 'im, 'e'll be ok bu' 'e won' be back 'ere fer a while. Can yer let everyone know 'e's ok withou' givin' us away?" Rumpleteazer looked awkward, she wasn't sure what the twins policy on lying was.

"Of course we can." They gave no explanation and left in their characteristically odd way. Rumpleteazer watched them leave, shrugged, and headed back to her human home for a nice long nap.


	5. Birth

The Rum Tum Tugger was bored. Bombalurina had been in a foul mood today and if he was honest Tugger was getting fed up of being dropped by her whenever the mood took her. It may have been the other way around in his signature song but life didn't always impersonate art. Besides Bomba was starting to get jealous of Demeter and her kitten and Tugger could sense she was starting to look for her soul mate. Both Jellicle's knew they weren't soul mates but that never stopped them having fun until the right Jellicle came along.

Tugger's boredom was further increased by the lack of attention from the kittens of the tribes. They all missed Pouncival terribly and spent most of their time moping. Tugger couldn't blame them but it was still annoying.

Pushing these thoughts aside Tugger put on his best smile and strutted out of the yard to go home, you never knew when a new pretty queen would turn up so he was always prepared.

Engrossed in his own ego filled thoughts Tugger almost missed the sight of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer turning into a side ally on the street they all shared. As a naturally curious cat it had been driving Tugger mad wondering where the tiger twins spent all their time. He had tried to ask Rumpleteazer a few times when walking her home but she would quickly change the subject. He'd never had the chance to follow them before either. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were early risers, something the Rum Tum Tugger most certainly was not. Knowing he'd probably never get another chance Tugger put on his stealthiest walk and followed the couple.

When they reached a fairly rundown area of town Tugger risked getting close enough to Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer to hear what they were talking about.

"Oi'm telling you luv, this is tha start of a big family fer us. We'll 'ave a whole mini troibe of ur own."

"Oh really, well yer can carry the nex' one. Oi've never been so uncomfertabl' in moi life!" Rumpleteazer was visibly waddling at this point. Jerrie had impersonated her once and felt the back side of her paw; he hadn't dared do it since.

Tugger suppressed a laugh. It was good to know Jerrie and Teazer we as close as ever. They reached a dead end. Tugger stayed at the end of the ally so he could stay hidden. But he watched as Mungojerrie held open a make shift Jellicle sized door for Rumpleteazer to waddle through before following her with his normal cheeky grin. He snuck closer, hoping to find an accessible window to have a look through but instead found himself confronted by two Jellicle's he didn't recognise.

"I have the honour of meeting the infamous Rum Tum Tugger." The queen spoke softly so as not to sound threatening however Tugger was concerned that she had said that as a statement rather than a question.

"And I have the honour of meeting two complete strangers. How thrilling." Tugger kept it clam and added a signature smile.

"Forgive me. My name is Mana, this is my mate Darkness." She gestured to the black tom who was about the same height as Tugger. He noticed that despite standing perfectly still Darkness looked like he could pounce at any moment.

"Just because I know your names doesn't mean you're not strangers." Tugger took a slightly defensive stance. He didn't like the look the tom was giving him. Mana looked at Tugger and then at Darkness.

"You'll have to excuse my mate, he doesn't say much, he just weighs Jellicle's up in his mind" Darkness made a barely perceivable move that gave him the appearance of being at rest and no longer ready to pounce. "You are in no danger but we cannot let you in."

"Why not?" Tugger didn't let up his defensive stance. "I want to see my friends. What are you hiding in there?"

"Jellicle's who need to hide." Darkness said this. There was no hint of emotion or mystery in his voice. This was a simple fact. Mana stepped in to explain.

"The Jellicle's here have all done things in their lives that they are ashamed of but they all want to put their old lives behind them and move on. Unfortunately very few of them would be accepted into a normal tribe. We don't mean anyone any harm, not any more; we just want the freedom to live whether it be alone, with a mate or with a family." Mana looked lovingly at Darkness. "Everyone deserves a second chance." Darkness stroked his mates cheek gently.

"You may be interested to know that Pouncival is here." Mana announced.

"Pounce? What's he doing here? Everyone's been worried sick. Tantomile and Coricopat have been telling us he's ok but nothing else." Tugger forgot his defensive stance and stood bolt upright, his ear flat in concern.

"Pouncival found us when he was badly hurt no thanks to some human kittens. Our healer has been looking after him and helping him make a full recovery. He's really well enough to go home but he has grown increasingly close to a young queen called Eclipse. And I'm pleased to say she returns his affections." Mana smiled, thinking of love always made her smile. Even when she was at her lowest in Macavity's services love could always brighten her day. Tugger also smiled, although his was a less controlled smile.

"Pounce has a queen? No wonder he doesn't want to come home. Good for the little fur ball." He paused for a moment, letting this wealth of new information settle in his mind. "And there's no chance you'll let me in? Just to see my friends?" Mana put a gentle paw on Tugger's shoulder.

"Not yet. It was important that you found the hotel today but this is as far as you go today Rum Tum Tugger. I realise you have no reason to but please trust me on this. I have seen how things must be and your time with us doesn't start yet."

"She's never wrong." Darkness put an arm around his mate, still looking at the maned tom. Tugger looked briefly at both of them and let out an exaggerated sigh of defeat.

"Fine. I'll go. I suppose I'm just wasting my good looks and charm here." He winked at Mana, turned away and started to strut off.

"One more thing." Darkness let go of Mana and stepped forward. "You can't tell anyone about this place. It won't end well if you do."

"Is that a threat?" Tugger stopped, looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

"No, Just a fact. I've heard about you and your fan club from Mungojerrie. I doubt even I could defend myself against them If I dented that pretty mane of yours." Darkness let a tiny smirk dance on his lips for a moment. Tugger let out another laugh.

"No I don't suppose you could, they are very loyal. Don't worry my dears; if there's one thing Tugger likes its knowing a secret. I'll keep my mouth shut. Although, I should mention" Tugger turned around and pulled himself up to his full height and put on a serious face. "If anything happens to Teazer, Pounce or even Jerrie I will lead my tribe here and Everlasting Cat help anyone who laid a paw on them. I don't know what it's like in your hotel but at the Junkyard we're a family, you hurt one you hurt all of us. I'd wager that despite everything that has happened the majority of them will still stand up for Jerrie if they had to. I know I'd be here in a shot. We've all done things we're ashamed of, some more than others. Jerrie's proved his worth a hundred times over in my eyes. Shame I'm not the tribe leader or things would have turned out differently." Another smile was let loose. "Now that one was a threat." And with that Tugger turned and strutted home.

A week passed. Tugger kept his word and kept his mouth shut. He was lounging on the car boot watching Tumblebrutus, Admetus, Etcetera and Gus play a half hearted game of tag, well the toms were half hearted but Etcetera never did anything by halves. Electra and Jemima were watching from the sidelines, neither of them really felt like playing.

Rumpleteazer walked, or waddled into the Junkyard. She knew this would be her last trip to the junkyard before the kitten was born. She and Mungojerrie had decided she would have the kitten at the Hotel. Didi would be there if, Everlasting Cat forbid, anything went wrong. They trusted Didi over any human vet and as much as they loved them they didn't really want their humans involved. Teazer would be at the Hotel now if she could, but she knew Jellylorum and Jennyanydots had been fretting over where she was spending her days and would never let her live it down if they didn't give her at least one last check over.

"Now really Rumpleteazer, we would much prefer you to stay here to have the kitten. Don't you trust us?" Jellylorum was arranging her pillows so Teazer would have somewhere comfy to lie for the examination.

"Course oi trust yer Jelly. But oi wan' my Jerrie wit me. You an oi both know Cassie and Lonzo would skin 'im before 'e got 'alf way across the yard. 'an oi don' really loike tha looks they've bin givin' me if oi'm 'onest wit yer. Oi'll be foine. Do yer really think Jer would let me come to 'ny 'arm?"

"We know he wouldn't. I wish you would at least tell us where you've been going. It really would put our minds at rest if nothing else." Teazer very ungracefully sat on the cushions.

"You know oi ain't gonna tell yer that Jelly." She spat out her tongue at the older queen before bursting into a trademark giggle. Jellylorum tutted.

"And to think you're about to become a mother, such manners." Jelly also let out a small giggle before proceeding with the examination. Jennyanydots walked in just as Jelly was done.

"How is our cheekiest patient then Jelly?"

"She's fine…" Before Jellylorum could finish her sentence Rumpleteazer shot into a sitting position.

"Ow. Jez kit, theres no need fer that now is there" Another pain shot through Rumpleteazer. Jenny was instantly at her side while Jelly went straight into doctor mode.

"Rumpleteazer, what's wrong?"

"Oi dunno, something 'urts." This time she let out a small scream. "Should it be doin' tha? What's goin' on?" Jenny looked to Jelly for confirmation, which she gave with a small nod.

"Rumple dear, it looks like your kitten wants out. You're in labour." Rumpleazer screamed again before looking at Jenny, eyes full of fear.

"Bu' oi thought oi 'ad another week. This isn't roight. Oi need to go, oi need my Jerrie." She tried to stand up but expert paws held her gently down.

"It's going to be ok. Me and Jelly have delivered more kittens into the world than we care to remember."

"Oi don' care. Oi need my Jerrie! 'E promised 'e'd be there! Oi can't do it without him!" Another attempt to stand up was halted by another labour pain. "Please, someone get 'im. Oi need my Jerrie." Jenny comforted Rumpleteazer the best she could as the young queen started to cry. Meanwhile Jellylorum was getting everything in place that they would need. Jenny was always better at the comforting side of things. Jellylorum could be comforting but since her uncle, Gus, has died she found it a bit harder to do. She had put all her emotions into looking after him and loved him more than a father. She always felt a part of her died when Gus went to the Heavyside Lair.

Rumpleteazer jumped with another pain, this one leading to a bigger scream. A few Jellicle's looked in, curious as to what the commotion was. When they realised what was going on the word spread across the junkyard like wild fire until it reached the Rum Tum Tugger. As Etcetera excitedly announced the news to him Tugger heard Rumpleteazer scream, even louder if that was at all possible. But this scream was for her mate. She screamed him name with more passion than anyone thought possible. Tugger leapt of the trunk and dashed to Jellylorum's lair. He pushed his way through a small crowd and saw Rumpleteazer desperately trying to get up and crying out. She was hysterical at the thought of giving birth without Mungojerrie there and it was making it very hard for Jenny and Jelly to do their jobs. This wasn't even the hard part. Tugger crouched in front of Rumpleteazer and tried to make eye contact.

"Teazer, Teazer, Rumpleteazer! Look at me." Watery eyes locked on his. "It's going to be ok. I'm going to get Mungojerrie. He wouldn't miss this for anything."

"'E's not at 'ome."

"I know Teaz, I know where he is. I'll get him." He held her paw in an effort to comfort her. "Trust me."

"You can't seriously be suggesting bringing him here?" said Cassandra sharply from the door way. Tugger's head shot round to face her.

"Right now Rumpleteazer needs her mate. She's about to give birth. Despite everything I think he has a right to be here for that, don't you?" Cassandra said nothing and stormed away. Tugger turned back to Rumpleteazer. "Think you can hold on for a bit? I'll run as fast as I can." He winked at her out of habit more than anything else and ran for the exit.

At the hotel Mungojerrie was sitting on the padded bench top and watching daily life in the tribe. Didi had just finished checking up on Pouncival, who everyone knew was better now, and was going back to her area behind the counter to rest. Eclipse and Pouncival were now sharing a quiet shy conversation and edging closer to each other as it went on. Ellipsis was sitting a way away watching them with a pout on his face. Eclipse and Pouncival were the only ones in the tribe close to his age and they were only interested in each other. He was very bored. Breeze was flirting with a new queen which was annoying Candi immensely. Mana and Darkness were sitting in the window keeping watch as normal. Had Mungojerrie been looking at them at that exact moment instead of at Candi who was about to throw a world class hissy fit, he would have noticed Darkness sit up to attention before Mana placed a paw on his knee. A few seconds later a large maine coon came crashing through the Hotels door way, pausing briefly to get his bearings before bounding over to Mungojerrie. A few of the Jellicle's got ready to attack the intruder but Mana sent a psychic message to everyone telling them to stand down. Mungojerrie jumped up as he realised who the intruder was.

"Tugger! What the Everlastin' Cat are yer doing 'ere?" Tugger took two large gulps of air. He hadn't stopped running since he left the Junkyard.

"Jerrie, no time for chat. Teazer's in labour at the yard…" He had barley finished his sentence before Mungojerrie had leapt off the padded bench was already half way across the Hotel floor. Tugger took a few more deep breaths before setting off after him.

Back the yard Rumpleteazer had calmed down briefly but more labour pains had set her off again.

"Where is 'e, can yer see 'im?" She cried out to Demeter who was standing in the door way holding her kittens paw.

"Not yet Rumple. Don't worry he'll be here. Tugger always keeps his word."

After what felt like an eternity to Rumpleteazer she heard a commotion outside. There was hissing coming from Cassandra and Alonzo. If she could have looked outside she would have seen Munkustrap and Bombalurina firmly holding the two Jellicle's in place. Mungojerrie passed them without even a first glance. His eyes were firmly set in the direction of his mate. As far as Jerrie was concerned there was no-one else there. He burst into Jellylorum's lair and pulled Rumpleteazer into a desperate hug.

"Jerrie, thank 'evans' yer here. Oi can' do this without yer." Tears continued to pour down Rumpleteazer checks.

"As if oi'd let yer. Oi promised yer oi'd be 'ere, 'ave oi ever let yer down?" Before she could answer she had a contraction. With her mate there Rumpleteazer was a lot calmer, allowing Jellylorum and Jennyanydots to get on and help bring another kitten into the world.

Outside Tugger was sitting on a box and catching his breath. He was a fit tom but that was quite possibly the longest and fastest run he had ever had to do. Demeter stayed in front of the door way. Partly to keep prying eyes out but mostly to ensure Alonzo and Cassandra didn't do anything stupid. She couldn't even begin to imagine what was going though their minds, knowing their loved ones were murdered and then discovering they had been sharing a yard with the one who had done it. She knew they wouldn't risk hurting her or her kitten to get to Mungojerrie. Still holding onto Alonzo, Munkustrap turned to Tugger.

"How did you know where Mungojerrie was Tugger?"

"I can't tell you Munkus, I made a promise."

"Did he go crawling back to Macavity?" Tugger had never heard Alonzo speak with such venom, he all but spat at Macavity's name.

"No Alonzo. I can promise you he hasn't gone back to Macavity. But I can't tell you anymore. You can ask all you want but I won't say." Munkustrap wasn't impressed.

"Tugger…"

"Sorry Munkus. Just trust me. I get the feeling it will all be revealed eventually but now isn't the time, and I'm certainly not the Jellicle to do it."

"You're impossible Tugger." Said Bombalurina.

"As if you'd have me any other way babe."

Hours passed and most of the Jellicle's got bored and wondered off. Cassandra has stormed off to her human home declaring she wouldn't set foot in the Junkyard until Mungojerrie was gone. Alonzo had also gone. He didn't have a human home to go to but he couldn't stay in the yard. By now only Munkustrap, Demeter and the Rum Tum Tugger remained. They'd heard plenty of screams coming from inside, and not all from Rumpleteazer. It sounded like she was getting a bit of revenge on Mungojerrie by making him suffer almost as much as she was. Eventually they heard the cry of a new born kitten. Jennyanydots popped her head out of the door way to announce that it was a tom. After a few minutes they were allowed in to see the newborn.

"'E's called Razi. Moi son, Razi." Mungojerrie was beaming more than usual. He has an arm around an exhausted looking Rumpleteazer. She showed them the tiny tiger tom. His markings were the spitting image of his parents except for a large black mark over his right eye which flowed through from his mane.

"It took a while, but he's perfectly healthy." Jellylorum stroked the kittens head briefly. "Could you keep the visit short, Rumpleteazer needs her rest." Jenny and Jelly set about cleaning up.

"He's beautiful. Well done Rumpleteazer." Demeter smiled at the queen; she knew exactly what Teazer had been through today. She looked down at her own kitten who was sleeping peacefully in her ams. "I should get this one to bed. Congratulations." Demeter left after giving Munkustrap a kiss on the cheek. Munkustrap was next to speak.

"Congratulations you two. Mungojerrie, could I have a quick word?" Jerrie reluctantly left Teazer's side, but not before giving her a kiss. They stepped outside leaving Rumpleteazer thanking Tugger while he fussed over Razi.

"Mungojerrie, I know this is awful timing but I need to make it clear you can't stay here long. You can stay until Rumpleteazer is ready to go home but can I ask you stay inside. The feelings among the tribe towards you are mixed and I don't want there to be any incidents. Do you understand?"

"Oi get yer Munkus. Oi don' want ter cause any trouble. Oi'll be gone before you know it." Jerrie sighed. "It nice ter be back tho. The smells, the feelin's, it feels…loike home." He looked towards the tire and the clearing, memories flooding over him. "Oh well, oi'll jus' 'ave to make a new home fer me family."

"I don't suppose you want to tell me where this new home is?"

"Not a chance mate. Now if yer'll excuse me, oi've got a son to fuss over." The grin returned and Jerrie all but skipped back to Rumpleteazer.

A week later Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer and Razi were back at the hotel. Jellylorum and Jennyanydots wanted Rumpleteazer to stay longer in the yard but she could tell Mungojerrie was feeling uneasy and wanted to leave.

Razi was already popular with the Jellicle's at the hotel. It amazed Mungojerrie that a tiny kitten could cause even the biggest toms to slip into baby talk.

They hadn't taken Razi home to the humans yet, and Mungojerrie knew they were worried. But they would have to wait.

Another week or so went by and Razi was trying to stand up on all fours, but he wasn't having much luck.

"Oi think 'e's inherited yer grace Jer." Rumpleteazer giggled gently as Razi fell down again. Razi smiled at his parents. They were on the padded bench top so he wouldn't hurt himself.

"'E'll get there." Razi fell again but didn't like it this time. Mungojerrie could see tears welling up in the tiny eyes so he picked Razi up and held him close. Rumpleteazer stroked the kittens back.

At that moment The Rum Tum Tugger walked into the hotel. He headed straight over to the family. Out of the corner of her eye Rumpleteazer saw Pouncival quickly hide.

"How's my favourite family doing? Don't worry I've come alone, your secret's still safe with me." Tugger sat down on the edge of bench top.

"We're doin' perfect Tugger. We were 'oping to see you again soon." Rumpleteazer looked at Mungojerrie before carrying on. "We've got sumthin' we wanna ask yer. Oi dunno 'ow well yer know human religion, but in one of em they have sumthin' called a god parent. It's sumone who the parent's trust ter be there for the kit, sumone to look after the kit if 'nythin' 'appens to em. There isn' a Jellicle version but we're creatin' it and we'd loike yer to be it." Tugger was speechless, for once. Mungojerrie continued.

"Yer came and get me so oi could be there for Teazer even tho you didn' need to. You've always been a good friend to me and Teazer, even wit everythin that's gone on." It took a few moments for Tugger to talk.

"I'm honoured; I can't believe you trust me enough for this." Tugger very discreetly held back some tears, he has a reputation to up hold after all, and tears were not part of the Tugger persona. "I've love to be god parent to Razi. I'll be the coolest god parent this world has ever seen. Can I hold him?" Mungojerrie nodded and passed the kitten to Tugger. "It's you and me kid, whatcha say when you're older I teach you a few tricks of the trade?" Razi looked at Tugger wonderment that can only come from a child. And in reply to Tugger question he grabbed a chunk of Tugger mane and pulled as hard as his kitten arms could. Tugger yelped in pain, but to his credit didn't drop Razi. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer on the other hand fell on each other laughing.


End file.
